| Boys will be boys - it's a popular saying and | | | | at you local club? |
| I'm sure it's something that has been said by | | | | |
| many parents around the world. Often regarded | | | | Grown-ups are a little more difficult to buy |
| as more boisterous than little girls, boys | | | | for. When they're out of their teens and done |
| can often be seen playing around with their | | | | with university, they may have enough of a |
| toys; whether alone or with friends, they are | | | | disposable income of their own to purchase |
| never far away for a gadget or game of some | | | | any number of toys to entertain themselves |
| kind to entertain them. | | | | with; so it means that when buying birthday |
| | | | gifts, you really have to go that extra mile |
| You may remember the long summer days of your | | | | towards thinking of something that appeals to |
| childhood? A time before computers became so | | | | their sense of fun. |
| widespread and almost everything electronic | | | | |
| and cool came prefixed with an 'i'. Where a | | | | But if the person you're thinking of is into |
| championship football or cricket match | | | | oriental cuisine, why not buy them an |
| involved actual participation and BMX racing | | | | ultimate birthday gift for the man who may |
| involved a gang of children, some rather | | | | well have everything - the Chopstick Kid. |
| battered looking bikes and some | | | | Whether or not the birthday boy is actually |
| unsafe-looking hills and ramps, rather than a | | | | able to use chopsticks, it will be impossible |
| console and a glass of coke. Well, even | | | | to resist the fun offered by this fantastic |
| though times have changed and toys are often | | | | toy. A tremendously simple concept, the |
| of the indoor variety - requiring the latest | | | | Chopstick Kid works by pushing sticks into |
| software updates to work properly - it is | | | | his legs so that the utensils can be used |
| still possible to recreate that innocent | | | | rather like tongs. It's not exactly how |
| sense of real-world fun that you enjoyed as a | | | | they'd do it in Japan or China, but isn't |
| child. | | | | that part of the fun? |
| | | | |
| Whether you are planning on buying birthday | | | | In fact, while he's unwrapping his amazing |
| gifts for him; for your son, a younger | | | | Gifts, you could always impress him with |
| brother, or even a friend, why not opt for a | | | | stories on the origins of the humble |
| Build Your Own Lamborghini? This hugely | | | | chopstick. Did you know that although |
| entertaining birthday gift for him is perfect | | | | believed to have originated in China, these |
| for younger toy lovers who want to develop | | | | fun utensils are used in a number of |
| their creative construction skills - the old | | | | different Asian countries - and to a lesser |
| air fix model aeroplanes of old may have been | | | | extent in countless non-Asian cultures - |
| fantastic, but this toy is really in a league | | | | including Vietnam, Japan and Korea? They are |
| of its own. A Build Your Own VW Camper Van is | | | | also used in Thailand, but there you're as |
| also available for kids - of either the | | | | likely to encounter a fork and spoon, which |
| little or big variety - who appreciate a | | | | although far easier to deal with, are also |
| little bit of retro cool. | | | | far less fun. |
| | | | |
| Older boys may be into different things, but | | | | The sticks themselves can differ according to |
| they undoubtedly appreciate their games as | | | | the country in which they are used. The |
| much as their younger counterparts. For that | | | | business end can either be tapered into |
| older fun-loving toy-playing boy, why not go | | | | points or be blunt, and they can also be |
| for the USB Golf Putt Returner? These golf | | | | constructed from a number of different |
| gadgets make perfect Gifts for those | | | | materials. Wooden and plastic chopsticks are |
| teenagers who like to spend lots of in front | | | | well known, but they can also be made from |
| of the computer. And you can feel at least a | | | | bamboo, bone, metal and jade. |
| little bit better about their apparent | | | | |
| aversion to getting out in the sun by giving | | | | However they're made though, the Chopstick |
| them a little bit of golf to focus their | | | | Kid will make them work a treat. And if the |
| attentions away from the screen. Powered by | | | | etiquette of some different countries is |
| USB, the USB Golf Putt Returner offers the | | | | observed - such as not standing the sticks up |
| perfect opportunity to practice real-world | | | | in bowls of rice - the whole birthday dining |
| golfing skills that cannot be matched by | | | | experience will undoubtedly be a fantastic |
| anything online. How many hole-in-ones will | | | | success, should they be used. What could be |
| it take before he wants to take up the game | | | | better for birthday gifts than that? |